Step One: Healthier Drinks

By FRAN SILVERMAN

Published: May 7, 2006

OUT with the sugary colas and sports drinks. In with water, fruit juice -- and granola bars? Maybe.

Come September, Connecticut students will have a limited choice of beverages to buy at lunch. But what foods they will be offered is still a question.

The Legislature's passage of a school nutrition bill that Gov. M. Jodi Rell is expected to sign put the state in the national spotlight last month. The bill, which banishes drinks like Coke, Pepsi, Gatorade and Powerade, including the diet versions, from vending machines and cafeterias in K-12 school buildings, is the strictest in the nation. (On Wednesday, some of the largest beverage distributors announced that they had agreed to halt almost all sales of sodas to public schools around the nation.)

The Connecticut bill stopped short of banning junk food, a compromise from last year when legislators failed to win Mrs. Rell's approval of a bill that would have banned high-fat snack foods. Instead, this year's bill offers a financial incentive for schools to follow healthy dietary guidelines issued by the State Department of Education.

The bill, which will take effect on July 1, sets aside up to $4.7 million in state school-lunch reimbursement funds to districts that voluntarily follow the dietary guidelines. Schools that offer the healthier snacks can get 10 cents extra for each reimbursable lunch meal served. Currently, schools get about 5 cents in state funds for every meal.

But how many will follow the food restrictions for the extra cash is uncertain. The districts will likely suffer financially, at least initially, from the switch to healthier beverages, making it tougher for them to eliminate top-selling snacks like cookies as well, said some school food service directors.

''I think the bill is going to cost districts a lot of money,'' said Joann Fitzpatrick, manager of food and nutrition services for Fairfield Public Schools.

Ms. Fitzpatrick said the state has not increased its reimbursement for school lunches in about 25 years, so the 10 cents it is offering is long overdue, although it may not help pay for the switch to higher-priced healthier snack items.

Fairfield would earn only $42,275 more if it participated, but would lose that much alone by just eliminating ice cream, Ms. Fitzpatrick said.

''Ten cents doesn't go very far,'' she said.

Dana Plant, president of the School Nutrition Association of Connecticut and food service director for Windsor Public Schools, said many schools that make a significant portion of their profits from snack items sold separately from the lunch meal may be hesitant to participate in the voluntary dietary guidelines.

''We all need to be self supporting, so we are torn,'' Ms. Plant said. ''We know we shouldn't have cookies for sale, but cookies sell and that is going to bring in the revenue to keep your program afloat.''

John Hopkins, food service director for Greenwich Public Schools, said almost half the students in the district bring their own lunches from home and supplement it by buying snacks at school. If these students also started bringing snacks from home, the district might lose more revenue.

''We have a large ?a carte menu,'' Mr. Hopkins said. ''We offer a lot of different things, and that's the part we'd have to change to get the extra 10 cents. Is it worth it? Personally, I'd say no. If you are asking the wellness committee, they'd say yes.''

Much of the revenue from the beverage vending machines, food service directors said, is used to support school athletic programs. It is those programs that may be scrambling in the fall if students don't buy water and juice.

Ken Parciak, athletic director for Windsor Public Schools, said the department earns about $10,000 from the district's six vending machines.

''It will be a problem for us,'' Mr. Parciak said.

But Mr. Parciak said he is optimistic that students will still buy water or juice from the machines if they are the only items offered.

Susan Fiore, nutrition supervisor for the State Department of Education, said several schools across the state that are participating in a healthy snack pilot program have reported good results from the switch in beverages and snacks. The department started the pilot program to come up with healthy food guidelines for schools at the urging of Mrs. Rell.

''Some schools made more money,'' Ms. Fiore said.

A spokesman for Governor Rell said the voluntary component of the bill regarding the snack foods was the key compromise that led to her supporting it.

''This is an important first step,'' said John Wiltse, the spokesman. ''She's encouraged by the incentives for schools to make available healthier foods rather than pushing down unfunded mandates.''

Photo: Greenwich High's vending machines will not have Coke or Pepsi when a new state law takes effect in September. (Photo by Janet Durrans for The New York Times)